The Six Minute, Sixteen Second Mile
by jlopie
Summary: Grace was left standing on the street corner - when would Steve remember he'd left her there?


A/N _Who would have thought that a one minute sneak peak would have finally released the writing muse locked away for so long! Although I've been a part of the H50 fandom since September 20, 2010, and despite the fact that I have read probably a thousand H50 fanfic stories, this is actually the first one I have written. Of any kind. I have been inspired by a select group of hardcore DWOCD writers who have allowed me into their hallowed halls without showing any proof that I was worth their friendship. I thank you each and every one for accepting me, cajoling me, haranguing me, enabling me and buying my multi-blinged out writers' prods. IC'k, I haven't seen any of that fortune you promised me we'd make off them, but I'm an optimist! The Dogo, here's your darn PARAGRAPH!_

_Please enjoy this little one shot, written BEFORE 5.12 aired, based solely on the 1 minute sneak peak available online earlier in the day - my take on what could have transpired because of Steve's love for that old Marquis. _

"Push yourself, Grace! You can do it!" Steve called out after Grace as she turned on the sprint. He clicked the stop watch setting and proudly informed a breathless Grace that she had just completed an awesome six minute and 16 second mile. "You are so ready for the Governor's Fitness test."

That's good," Grace gasped, trying to suck in much-needed oxygen. "I didn't do so good last year. Thanks for helping me, Uncle Steve! Danno says next to swimming, running is his least favorite thing to do."

"_Why does that not surprise me? Did another best friend die running?" _Steve couldn't help himself. Sometimes Danny was just, well, Danny!

"I'm going to hate to see the day when Danny really becomes a grumpy old man." Steve grinned widely at Grace while she rested her hands on her knees.

"I know," Grace sadly admitted. As she looked up to smile at her favorite uncle, she spotted a familiar shape being driven down the cross street from the corner on which she and Steve were standing. Puzzled, she pointed in it's direction. "Isn't that your car, Uncle Steve?"

"_What the…?"_ Steve couldn't believe what he was seeing happen before his eyes. His beloved Mercury Marquis, his father's pride and joy, appeared to be enjoying a free-for-all drive. Obviously, someone was behind the wheel, but Steve couldn't make out who it was. He desperately wanted to run after it, but hesitated because Grace couldn't keep up with him. He couldn't put her in danger, but that was his baby driving away!

"Uh…Grace, stay put. Don't talk to anyone. Stay right here." Trying to keep an eye on the vanishing Marquis, Steve was leaving Grace to fend for herself, but she understood completely.

"Don't worry, Uncle Steve, I won't move. I promise. Go!" Grace watched Uncle Steve dash out of sight in hot pursuit of his most prized posession. Assuming he would be back for her when he captured the carnapper, she set herself down on the grass to await his return.

Steve sprinted up the street, keeping the car in his sights until it made it's way onto the H1 approach ramp heading north – out of the city. It could be going inland to the Pale Highway or through the interior to the North Shore. There was no way to know for sure at this point, and Steve was stymied. He was about to call for an APB on the car, when his phone bleeped in his hand. Frustrated, irate that someone had the nerve to steal his car, Steve barked a "yeah" into the phone.

"Fine. Come pick me up …"

H50h50H50h50

Three hours later…

"That had to have been one of our quickest case resolutions…ever!" Danny crooned as the suspects were rounded up and shipped off to HPD for booking. "Not only did we solve the case, but look at that! Here comes McGarrett with his precious baby, looking none the less for the wear!"

Chin, Kono and Lou were all smirking as a very proud Steve pulled up in front of his team.

"All's well that ends well," Steve jovially saluted his friends. She's fine, and the kid who took her for a joy ride is going to regret he ever was born." Steve patted the Marquis' hood lovingly.

"Huh. That's odd." The friends all turned in unison to look at Danny, who was studying his phone.

"What's wrong, brah?" Chin could tell by the troubled look on Danny's face that something was not right.

"I'm not sure. Grace isn't answering her phone. She should be home. She knows when I'm at work she has to stay home unless she has my permission to be with a friend."

"Oh my God!" Four sets of eyes swiveled in the direction those three little words came from. The look of shock on their fearless leader's face had them all in motion at once.

"What? What is it? What's wrong, Steve!" Danny was beside him almost instantly.

"I…uh…I left Grace standing on the street corner." With a quick, pleading look for help from his teammates, Steve stoically turned his gaze straight towards Danny and proceeded to inform his partner and best friend that he had told Grace to stay put and not move until he came back for her…and then promptly forgot about her.

"Oh, Jeez…" Lou rolled his eyes and backed away from the brewing storm. It was coming, that was obvious. Danny just stood there in front of his former best friend, total disbelief morphing into nearly uncontained rage. Kono wisely headed for the Camaro's door, while Chin attempted to mitigate the crisis by placing a calming hand on the trembling forearm of Detective Danny Williams, irate father.

"You. Did. WHAT?" Finally finding his voice, and shrugging off the restraining hold on his arm, Danny took one step towards Steve, white-knuckled fists locked and rising to begin the arc intended to connect with Steve's jaw. Steve did nothing to defend himself, realizing he deserved whatever his partner chose to do to him.

Before there could be heard a sickening crunch of bone on bone, with the probable outcome of a broken jaw and a similarly broken hand, Kono pulled the Camaro alongside the two men and shouted through the open window, "Are you two going to stand there fighting, or are you going to find Grace?"

H50h50H50h50

Racing down the side streets leading to Danny's neighborhood, the two men silently thought their own thoughts.

"_I can't believe I forgot Grace. _Steve proceeded to castigate himself. "_There was nothing so important that should have prompted me to completely forget her like this. Certainly not the Marquis- not an inanimate object like that! I hope to God she's still there on the corner and that she's okay and…that she'll eventually forgive me! I'm pretty sure her father never will! I know Danny has trained her to do whatever he or I tell her to do unquestioningly. I should have told her to go home, she was just a mile away and she is old enough to take care of herself."_

"_I can't believe the Neanderthal left her on the corner and forgot her." _Danny was having an even more difficult time wrapping his brain around his partner's lapse of sense. _Steve is always on top of things. He knows how much Grace means to me! She's my reason for living! Why would he just leave her standing there to run after his father's old car! Of all the irresponsible things he's ever done, this just takes the cake! She better be on that corner waiting for us. I don't know what I'll do if something's happened to her. This is it. I'm done. I can't partner with a man who is so focused on the memory of his father that the safety of a child is put in jeopardy."_

The two men warily glanced at each other as Steve took the turn onto the street where Grace should be waiting, wondering what the other man was thinking, but not willing to engage in one of their traditional Carguments.

The stress factor inside the Camaro rose dramatically as both men scanned the sidewalk ahead, looking for the pride and joy of not just the father, but the currently disgraced uncle, too. Although she wasn't standing on the corner, she did come out from under the shade tree where she had been sitting, keeping cool.

"Hi, Danno! Hi, Uncle Steve! Did you catch the bad guy? Is your car okay?" Hey, you're squeezing me!" Grace tried to squirm out of her Dad's arms, looking to her uncle for some help, but he looked liked he was ready to collapse onto the grass himself. "Is everything okay?" Danno, are you hurt?"

Danny finally let go of Grace, holding her at arms length and visually checking her out. Steve just shook his head, unable to look her in the eye.

"I'm so sorry, Grace. I never should have left you alone out here. It's all my fault. I hope you can forgive me."

"Are you okay, Grace? Are you thirsty? For once, I'm okay – Uncle Steve did not get me shot. But honestly, are you all right?" Danny was almost giggling, he was so relieved to find his daughter in one piece after being left alone on a street corner for over three hours.

It's okay, Uncle Steve. Danno, I'm fine, really. I didn't talk to anyone, and I didn't leave. I wasn't worried. I knew you'd come for me when you had caught the bad guys. That's what you guys do! This island is safer because both of you together always catch the bad guys. I love you both, you know!

Danny and Steve looked at each other. This little girl was their rock, and she loved them both. Realizing that she expected them to always be part of her life and that she accepted that they weren't always perfect, the partners silently made up. They would have that cargument, certainly, and they would clear the air between them sooner rather than later, but not just now.

Now, they would head out to buy some fresh fish, call the rest of the team for a barbecue, and decompress, all together, on Steve's beachfront lanai.


End file.
